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What if~The Byzantines won over the Ottomans?
Istanbul: one of the old world's finest cities, it contains cultures of both European and even Arabic. In the center, is a place of worship which once served both Christianity and Islam. Before the Ottoman Turks took over in 1453, it was named Constantinople, it was more than just a capital city of the once mighty Byzantine Empire, it was a viable trade route for 2 continents: Europe and Asia. But what if in an alternate reality the Byzantines won the war against the Ottomans, what would happen if the route between Europe and Asia was never cut off? This is what this page will cover. Before (and as always) some history, just scroll down to the "What if?" part of this page if you already know what happened. Real History Ever since the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, the Eastern part of the Roman Empire changed into the Byzantine Empire, and the empire continued to be a dominant force in the Eastern Meditereanean. Their real rise to power didn't come until 527 AD with the succession of Justinian 1st, his vision is to try to make the Byzantine Empire just as strong (if not stronger) than the Roman Empire, wanting his empire rise out from under Rome's shadow. Even with Justinian's family ruling the Byzantine Empire, it's power was on leaps and bounds. Throughout the next few centuries, the Byzantines gained and lost land to other Empires (especially to a lot of Arabian Empires at the time) eventhough the Byzantines were ahead of them in military technology (having the ability to shoot fire from syphions from their ships (a fiery weapon which would be later known as Greek Fire). Though, the Byzantine Empire's path of decline after they faced a huge Arabic Empire called the Seljuk Empire at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, which ended in a victory for the Seljuks and even the Byzantine Emperor: Romanos 4th being captured and imprisoned by the Seljuks. The Byzantines also lost the region of Anatolia. Over the next few centuries, the Byzantines has also seen the European Crusades plow through their capital of Constantinople, the worst however was in 1204 when the Knights of the 4th Crusade layed seige to Constantinople and sabotaged the Empire. Nearly 60 years after the 4th Crusade invaded Constantinople, a new Emperor named Michael 8th of Palaiologos took control of the Empire though his intentions are to restore the Empire (even to bring back the ruling of the Old Roman Empire), though it was only enough to keep the Byzatine Empire stabel for at least a few more centuries.' Unfortunately, by the 15th century, the rise of the Ottoman Turks (who the Byzantines were fight for some time) was too much for the Byzantines, and by the mid 15th Century, the Ottomans were advancing towards Constantinople. However in 1453, the leader of the Ottoman Tribe, Mehmet 1st ordered his Cannon Fodders to fire constantly at the seemingly impregnable walls of Constantinople. The Bombardment went on for at least a month, until finally the Capital city falls to ther Ottomans. With that, the Byzantine Empire becomes the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople is renamed Istanbul, and the Ottomans gained control of the most important trade route for both Europe and Asia, virtually cutting off the continents. What if? Now here's the question of the day. What if the Byzantines did actually win their war against the Ottomans? What would the world be during the Renassance if the trade routes to Europe and Asia never severed? Factors This Alternate Scenario is very unlikely to happen because the Byzantine Empire was in decline long before the Ottoman Turks came into power. 1. Assess and Fix their problems The Palaiologos Family in our reality did very little to keep the Solcial, Economical and Political problems of the Byzantine from deteriorating. What the family had to do is to end Political Strife and even better organize and assess to the losses of the Byzantine Empire, especially with their recent losses against the Arab Tribes in what is known today as Turkey, and even try to recover better from the constant sacking of Constantinople by European Crusades. 2. Better deal with Social Reform By the 14th Century, the citizens of the Byzantine Empire wanted reform and sick and tired of being invaded by both Europe and Arabia, and the Empire was thrown into a State of Civil War, one broke out in 1321, and another 20 years alter following the death of the Emperor Andronikos 3rd and his son was only 8-Years Old at the time. It is also possible that the Bubonic Plague had something to do with the upheavals. 3. Make Alliances with the Vatican Another problem is that when Constantinople was invaded multiple times by the Crusades, the Byzantines did nothing to makew the situation better. Perhaps if they made some kind of agreement, maybe Constantinople wouldn't be invaded so easily. In our reality, the Crusades did help the Byzantines (somewhat) with the Arabic tribes, but it wasn't enough to ensure the safety of Constantinople. The Scenario In an Alternate Reality, during the 15th Century the Byzantines were able to defeat the Turks and protect their capital of Constantinople and with some cooperation with the Vatican, they were able to secure the lands that were once owned by the Turks. What does this change? A lot. With the Byzantines' Victory over the Ottoman Turks, the trade ties to Europe and Asia are never severed. Thanks to Constantinople, nations from both continents are still able to trade with each other, this also helps with the relations between some of these nations as well. It's difficult to say if Christopher Columbus would be able to sail across the Atlantic. In our reality, the real reason why the Spanish Empire was able to fund his own expedition because the Spanish Empire wanted to find new trade routes to Asia, in this alternate reality it would be more difficult (if not impossible) for Columbus to get the funding and aid he needs to go on his expedition. This would also change on how and definitely when the Americas will be discovered, maybe in a few centuries later and possibly by somebody else or maybe even a Asian Nation can discover and colonize America in this alternate reality (just click here if you want to read about an alternate history page on Asians colonizing in the Americas). Even if the Byzantine Empire were to survive into the Renascence, it wouldn't survive for very long. In this alternate reality, it could carry on to the late 19th century, but keep in mind that World War 1 was the war to end empires. More than likely, the Byzantines would ally themselves with the Russians. It is impossible to tell how the Byzantines would do in WW1, or how the Russians would do with an ally. But one thing that can be assumed is that just like all of the empires in Europe, the Byzantine Empire would just fall and a provisional government would form. Though it could be possible that Greece would have a bigger influence in modern history that it did in our reality, but we would never tell 100%. That is all for this page, what would you think would happen if the Byzantines won over the Ottomans? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wiki. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.